Maya the Risen
by Psychotic Siren
Summary: A crossover fic combining themes from Zelda in the world of Borderlands, Maya the Risen follows Maya the Siren and Krieg the Psycho throughout their journey in Pandora to conquer Handsome Jack, fate, and each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Whenever the land of Hylia is in danger…**

**…We shall be reborn…**

"The way to find the most powerful Siren is always through the chosen hero. That's what the legends say." A thin smile creeped into the corners of his lips as he headed toward the Preserve.

Handsome Jack, as he liked to call himself - and so did anyone else who liked to keep their heads steady on their shoulders - was a simple man, really. All he really wanted was control, of everything, and that meant finding the White Siren. That was the first step.

Maya picked at a hangnail and pondered life. The world was so much different since the last time she respawned. And what about him? Where was he? Was he okay? Was he picking at a hangnail, too? She wondered about the color of his eyes and hair. Were they going to be a deep ocean of blue for her to get lost in, or a blue as bright and expressive as the sky? Was his hair going to be pale against his suntanned skin, or maybe darker, more mysterious… or maybe even pink. That could be fun.

Before she even had a chance to daydream about any other attributes and appendages, a holographic screen flickered on in front of her. Another ECHOnet message from one of those outcasts in Sanctuary requesting her help, great. It wasn't that Maya didn't care about the Resistance, it was that it didn't pertain to her interests. She had bigger, beefier things to worry about. It is amazing what 5,000 years can do to a girl's priorities.

A man's voice boomed arrogantly over the Echo, searing her temporal lobe as she watched in horror, helplessly. Words assaulted her eardrums in all directions, but nothing made sense to her. "Our latest experiment," "Eridium run off," "war incarnate." She could hear the syllables, she could see it all happening, but complex thoughts and simple mathematics eluded her.

Her vision blurred and her heart pounded so loudly that she felt as though it made the earth around her quake.

She had found him.

For the first time in her existence she had found him, but wished that she hadn't. Maybe this was just a new facet of her humanity, maybe it was, oh, what do they call it, a nightmare? Yes, yes, maybe she was actually dreaming. With every new life she was given, she found herself becoming more and more human. She could feel the darkness swallowing her up slowly, like small spiders crawling up through her veins. It was only a matter of time before they reached her heart and the transformation was complete.

"This has been a message from the Hyperion Public Service System. Have a wonderful day. Buy Hyperion," the always cheery Hyperibot voice chimed. Maya fell to her knees. She thought that the message was meant for solely her, that she had been found out. Pressure grew in her stomach as a plan brewed in her mind. She was going to charge into Opportunity - no, was he even there? Where do they do their experiments? She'd find out and then'd she go in and… she'd fall right into their trap. Stars floated around in front of her eyes. One two three four, she counted in time with the rhythm, but she couldn't keep up. The world was spinning around her with only one question to ask: Do you want to dance, Siren?

She threw up and passed out instead, and the party hadn't even begun.

The hot midday sun beat down upon her creamy porcelain skin. She was awake now, eyes focusing on the sky, unblinking. She wasn't sure how long she had been awake, or if she had even stopped dreaming. Did she even pass out? Nothing felt real. Rakk flew overhead, screeching at each other over something insignificant. She was sure they were going to attack her once she had been spotted. Whatever.

Her ECHOscreen displayed once again. She held her breath at first, scared of what she might see, then exhaled forcefully, somewhat relieved. Roland. Her eyelids fluttered at the thought of him. She didn't know the guy, but he seemed so rigid and serious, with his petty resistance and his stupid posters littering the "beautiful" countryside. Maya had become so pessimistic, and she hated it. She was expecting to see another Viva La Resistance! ad, an open invitation for anyone who wanted to fight back against Hyperion. She wasn't on Hyperion's side, at all, but it felt a little wrong to her to fight against a company that she had been a major part of in a past life. Hyperion wasn't the same company she once knew, and she had to realize that, she needed to accept it. There was no good left in this company run by this demon, this "Handsome Jack," "who took an innocent man and turned him into a crazed monster," Roland's voice hissed. "What?" Maya said aloud, to no one at all. The founder of the Crimson Raiders had her full attention, as did she of the Rakk circling overhead. She put in an ECHOchat to Roland directly, right as the flock started dive bombing.

"Hi," she started, then looked to the sky. With a flick of her wrist, an orb of pure light shot into the sky, encircling the leader of the Rakk. A fiery explosion greeted the rest of the flock, and whisked them off quickly to their deaths. Pulling out her SMG could have ended the phaselocked foe's life a little sooner, but who needs a gun when you've got style? "I'd like to join your club. Where's the signup sheet?"

Maya figured that the fastest and easiest way to find Hyperion's Latest and Greatest Experiment would be to join up with the Crimson Raiders. They were the last stronghold of the Resistance, and had the best intel on Hyperion. Maya knew a bit, herself, of course, but she also knew things had changed, and she realized that she would probably need some help. Her stomach filled with wasps, or were they killer bees? Whatever they were, they were the opposite of butterflies. She worried about how she'd react when she saw him in person. She worried about how he was handling everything that just happened to him, or did it even just happen? How long ago was that message recorded, or was it live? She steadied herself against a energy pole; she was not ready to dance again so soon.

Breathe in, breathe out. The world was hers to command. "You can do this," she told herself. She stood up straight, and pulled out her gun. Nothing like a little gun maintenance to pass the time as she waited for the train. Time marched forward. Her hands quivered suddenly as the train grew close, and she got angry at herself. She shook her head, then noticed something in her peripherals.

"What the hell, is that a psycho?" she said out loud. Their eyes locked. She could feel herself slipping away into his gaze; he felt as though he could stare at her forever. His mind was foggy, but one thought pounded him in the gray meat matter over and over. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. "Tell her she's as gorgeous as 1,000 sunsets," his voice echoed inside of his skull. "Tell her you need her help. Tell her to rescue you, and care for you," the words flitted around like small hummingbirds amidst the trees, the words falling apart, and reforming, bumping into each other and creating new words and ideas. His inner voice panicked. He knew what was coming, and he was powerless to stop it. "Whatever you do," his voice was filled with a new sense of urgency, "do not scream the word 'poop' at the top of your lungs."

All of the words and phrases fell down into the dark hole of his mind. Except poop. _Poop_. The train beside him came to a roaring halt. "I AM THE CONDUCTOR OF THE POOP TRAIN!" He gave her the finger. It was the bloody cherry on top of the meat sundae.

Maya's eyes grew wide. Just then, she had gotten an echo from Roland, who had seen the whole thing. "Maya, he is a psycho, you need to PUT. HIM. DOWN!" She looked down at her gun, then back up at the conductor.

"It's over, idiot," he said, internally. Just then, a pack of rats appeared behind Maya, creeping up slowly as to not attract her attention. It didn't matter. They could have yelled her name in unison, and all she would have done was continued to stare at him.

His mind was on a rampage. Yell at her. Do it. Tell her to look back. Go over. Run. Meat. Bloodlust. Poop smells. "STRIP THE FLESH," a primal roar. "SALT THE WOUND." He seemed less confident about it. "NO, listen to me," his inner voice took the reigns and yanked down, hard. "Right now, if you don't listen to me, she's going to die, and it's going to be your fault."

Six feet and four inches of solid meat stood up with a guttural growl. He readied his buzz axe. "TURN AROUND, PRETTY LAAAADAAAAAAY!" The weapon cut through the air at a terrifying speed; Maya watched it as it cleanly whizzed by her face and sliced neatly through the skull of a Lab Rat behind her. The rat made a horrible sound as his connection to physical world was quite literally cut off. She had never seen anything quite as gruesome so close, until the crazy conductor leapt up, grabbed his killing tool, and proceeded to wipe the platform clean of the rats. It was almost like a dance. A beautiful, bloody, psychotic dance. The world spun around and asked her again: Siren, do you want to dance? Yes, she said, yes, I want to dance.

He looked at his handiwork, at the bloodied corpses of the rats he had laid to waste, and also of the body of the rat who flat out gave up, fainted, and pissed himself out of sheer terror. A faint purple light glowed behind him. It was the last rat, frozen in another dimension, courtesy of Maya. He jumped into the air with his buzz axe, finishing what he had started.

"Tell her," his voice quietly beckoned. Memories of their time together flooded his brain. Indecent thoughts floated to the surface. Tweet tweet. Birdie. "I POWDERED MY COCKATIEL FOR THE RIBCAGE SLAUGHTER!"

She tried to stop it, but she just couldn't help it. A smile escaped her lips and dominated her face. With all of the force of 500 horses made of solid diamond, she ran towards him - "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Roland's voice cut in. "Get on that train, and get your ass to Sanctuary, soldier!"

"Mind if I bring a friend?" she asked sweetly.

"Are you out… of your goddamn mind?!" Roland was clearly furious. "He is a psycho, a mindless creature bent on killing, killing, and more killing."

"A few hours ago, you were going on about this innocent man ripped from the life he once knew, turned into a monster, and you want to just ignore him and leave him out here to die? I don't understand that!" she yelled.

"He is beyond our help! His mind is gone. He can't even speak properly! Look, I can't let someone like him in Sanct-" Roland reasoned.

"Don't you see that he could help us?" she interrupted. "I mean, did you see him just now? Do you really not want him on your side? Take your time, it's your choice. When you decide you want to stop playing games and win this war, let us know. We'll be around."

She ended the communication. "Welp," she sighed, "we've got a lot of walking to do." She looked him over. He towered over her, which she didn't mind at all. He was completely bald, which she wasn't expecting. Probably a side effect of the experiments. He was wearing a modified face mask, not unlike the masks she had seen local psychos wearing. "Let me seeee," she went to take it off, playfully. He flinched, and she jumped back. "I-I'm sorry…. I…. sorry. I'm sorry. I just….." her voice trailed off, and then she realized, something horrible must have happened. She swallowed hard. Don't cry, do not cry, don't let him see, it's okay, be strong, be strong for him.

"If something happened, it's okay, you don't have to… It won't change… anything. You know that, right?" His dark gray eye penetrated her soul. For some reason, his right eye was covered up completely. She realized he must have been disfigured, and he was probably ashamed to let her see. "Maybe… I can help, just let me see," she said softly. He growled. She wondered if hissing back was the proper thing to do, but ultimately decided against it.

"I'm fucking hungry," she said instead.

"MEAT!" he shouted, agreeing. She went to grab his arm and set off on a hunt for food for herself and a carcass of some sort for him, noticing a small branded word in one of the leather straps of his mask. "Krieg?" she questioned. "Is that your name?" "I AM WAR INCARNATE!" he shouted. "You are such a moron," his inner voice muttered, defeated. "Ha, that's cute," she chuckled. "Well, call me 'Maya,' if you want. I guess I liked the sound of it." Krieg was silent. She wondered if the man she once knew was in there somewhere, or if he really was nothing but a psycho. Only time held the answer.

The journey back to The Dust, to where Maya's tiny little shack of a house lay hidden beneath the shadow of a large stone ramp, was a long, silent, boring journey. The moment Maya had seen Krieg, she knew everything was going to be okay, because even though unspeakable things had happened to him, he had escaped, they had found each other, and she was going to make everything better, somehow. Now, she wasn't so sure. All she needed to know was one thing, was he still in there? Was the spirit of the young man she fell in love with all of those thousands of years ago trapped inside of this fucked up experiment, screaming to get out, to tell her all of the things she was dying to tell him? If she knew that answer was "yes," she could move forward with no difficulty. She knew she had to be patient.

"Here it is, my castle. Please, you don't have to remove your shoes," -he wasn't- "I'll have one of my maids take care of everything," she joked. No response. She led him over to her bed, a small cot barely off the ground. "All right, well, you must be tired. I have some things to take care of, I'll be back later, okay?"

All he could do was stare at her. She looked so much different each time. She always found new ways to be the most stunningly beautiful creature he had ever seen. She had short blue hair that framed her face in the front, then ascended up past her adorably curved ears, getting shorter and shorter along the way. Her eyes were a light grey, as if all of the color had been completely drained from them. He had loved her sparkling green eyes in the past, so full of life, but was finding that he loved her new grey eyes just as much. He reached out to touch her face. Light touches. Caress. Careful. Don't poke her eyes. So pretty. Pet eyelashes.

He whacked her in the side of the head gently. She placed her hand on top of his. Maybe he was still in there, somewhere. She tucked him in. She wanted to lean over and give him a small kiss on the… mask? Scalp? But she couldn't hold it in much longer. She gave him one short glance, a look full of sadness and remorse, and quickly said good night. She left the house, practically running. Her eyes were filled with tears by the time she made it outside. "What have I done?" she sobbed, hoping he didn't hear her. She made sure she was out of earshot, and threw herself a pity party, crying herself to sleep on the cold, hard earth.

"She must think I am a monster. She must hate me," Krieg thought. He saw the look she had given him before she fled the house. It was a look full of hatred and fear. Was she even going to come back? He wouldn't blame her if she didn't. Sleep was his favorite activity, well, one of them, top three, definitely, but it escaped his grasp. Everything in him was telling him to run. The calm, logical part of him that still existed deep, deep down, and the Meat Man. For once, they agreed on something. He got up slowly, taking care to leave everything as it was. Put it down. On the bed. The blanket. Bed. Pillow. Pillow pokey? A feather… FEATHERS!

The room was covered in feathers and remnants of the one damn pillow Maya had in mere seconds. Krieg closed his eyes, anger permeating throughout his body. He couldn't even put the bedding back together like a normal person. All he really even had to do was just throw the damn blanket on the bed and walk away. It didn't have to be nice and neat, he wouldn't have been able to manage that, anyway. He picked up a feather and headed out. He wasn't strong enough, yet. "I'm sorry, princess," he thought as left.

He walked through the tall but patchy grass, kicking it down as he went along. He took his buzz axe out and decided to have a little fun, spinning around in a circle. LET'S MOW THE LAWN! But he found nothing of value. He kept walking, walking, walking. It felt good to stretch out his legs. The sun was coming up over the mountains. He fell face first into the ground.

Maya woke up suddenly, and found a full-grown meat puppet sprawled out across her. "He came out to find me," she thought. She started laughing, a pure, clean laugh that filled the air around them. Her smile was as wide as her mouth could manage; she knew that everything was going to be just fine.

Her laughter was like music. She was like music. His body didn't know what to do with all of the dopamine. Returning the hug he was receiving might be a good start. Gently, slowly, that's it. Whew.. What? Wheeeeeee. Krieg and Maya were suddenly rolling down a small hill. Krieg took no responsibility whatsoever because it was fun. "Geez, you are fat," Maya said as she was picking out bits and pieces of grass from her hair. What she really meant was that he was heavy, really, really heavy, but there was not one inch of fat on his body, not that she had found. She made a note to continue her investigation whenever the opportunity presented itself. He noticed she was staring at him rather intently, and decided to tell her some useful information that might help her with her research. "MY PECS HAVE PECS." There was that laugh again. "At least you can keep her entertained," he said to himself. They headed back to her house. "I like what you've done with the place," Maya remarked, noticing Krieg's advanced decorating skills. He reached into his pocket and placed a feather on her head.

They spent the next few months playing some wasteland version of house. Krieg killed the meat, Maya cooked it. Maya locked the bad guys into an alternate dimension, Krieg killed the meat. It was nice. The house itself wasn't much more than a metal shack, but it was their metal shack, and it was slowly becoming a home. Splashes of Maya's personality adorned the walls and were draped across the bed, sofa, and windows; splashes of Krieg's blood could be found throughout the house, along with a skull he had picked clean during one of his adventures. He seemed pretty fond of it, and it did look nice on the end table. Maya set some dried flowers in the eye sockets. Perfect.

She went into the main area of the house to get Krieg, but he wasn't there. She looked in the bedroom… nope. He couldn't actually be in the bathroom already, could he? He was not. "Krieeeg, come on. We have to do this every night, you know that." She headed outside. "Oh MY GOSH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" In his attempt to evade bath time, Krieg had slipped outside, and then he got bored so he lit his arm hairs on fire. Yeeeessss. Very pretty. Such warmth. Orange colors. The good pain hurts so perfect. Maya rushed to put out the flames as they ascended his forearm, dragging him into the house, then into the bathroom.

"APPLY COLD WATER TO BURNED AREA," he shouted gleefully. She rolled her eyes; just something else she had to worry about, Krieg lighting himself on fire and burning away into a pile of ashes. Couldn't leave him alone anymore, wonderful. She walked him over to the window to examine his burns. His skin was completely smooth, so very, very smooth. She ran her hand back and forth over his now hairless forearm. "I… guess you weren't on fire for very long. You got lucky, meathead. Now, get in the tub," she insisted. "THE DIRT COVERS MY SOUL." Every night it was the same. She'd start up the bath, he'd go on about dirt and blood spatter residue tattoos like they were a valuable part of who he was, something that shouldn't be washed away so easily with soap and water. Maya wouldn't have minded all that much, except she didn't want the filth all over the furniture, and she didn't want any of his wounds to get infected, more importantly.

"No no no, take off your clothes first. Do I need to get some music for you? Where's Claptrap, maybe he can lay down a sick beat for you," Maya blushed. It wasn't that she hadn't seen him naked, it just felt so much different now. She felt like she was taking care of a son, or even an elderly father, an elderly father with amazing abs. She always washed those first. "All right, now, the pecs, and the necks, and behind the pokey ears…" Krieg liked when she announced each area.

"Okay." She exhaled deeply and braced herself.  
Krieg knew what was coming, too. "NOT THE DOODLE."  
Maya turned bright red. "Yes the doodle."  
"NO, MY DOODLE."  
"Come on, we do this every night, and I always win. Give up."  
"NEVER STOP THE WAR!" He was smiling beneath his mask. Krieg began to stand up to get out of the tub. Maya phaselocked him, straddled him, and finished bathing him by the time the phaselock was over with. _It was Krieg's favorite moment of his entire day.  
_"I HAVE THE SHINIEST MEAT BICYCLE," he said, admiring his newly clean doodle. Maya giggled. She couldn't help but find his psychotic one-liners to be somewhat endearing.


	2. Chapter 2

"You mean there's another Siren out there?!" Lilith was practically ablaze with excitement. She had come to Pandora in hopes of meeting more badass bitches like herself - that is to say, Sirens - but the only one she had met so far died a minute after Lilith first laid eyes on her. Bam, bitch.

"Yeah, and she's a feisty one. You'll like her," Roland responded. "I need you to get her on our side, we could use another Siren right about now."

"Sure. Give me her echo."

The skies turned black and Maya smiled. Evil descended upon her face, her irises faded into her illuminated scleras. Four portals opened up from another world, another time. Purple lighting shot out from each of them as they danced around in the sky, killing the hordes of bandits below. Krieg stopped cold in his tracks. "No, Princess, not like this," his inner voice whispered. Maya was possessed. Rage filled his soul, liquid nitrogen shot through his veins, leaving goosebumps all over his body. "NO! DON'T DO IT!"

His heart pounded and his mind raced. All he could think about was KILL KILL KILL EVERYTHING MUST DIE IT'S A BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL ON PAIN! His nerves were numbed, his feet, quickened. He felt invincible. Nothing could stop him. This is how he wanted to feel for the rest of his life. His ears tingled like they were on fire. It felt so good. He could hear the voices of the angels, so far away. "You must save her," they said. "You must save her from…." But his 15 seconds were up.

"Uh, hello. My name is Lilith and, uh, welcome to the Crimson Raiders because there is no other option for you. You. Are. AWESOME."

Maya let her bitch resting face do all the talking. She knew they'd come crawling back.

Krieg, however, had important things to say. "I'M HERE TO SHANK AND SMILE!"

"Ah," Lilith smiled, "You must be the psycho. I've heard good things."

"Is he going to be a problem with Roland? Because Krieg and I are a package deal," Maya felt her temperature spike.

"Let me handle Roland. Hell, I'll just show him the footage from this Echo. Come on over to Sanctuary. I'll tell Scooter to put you into the Catch-a-Ride system."

Maya and Krieg located the CaR. Krieg excitedly started mashing buttons, and in no time, a yellow runner had digistructed before their eyes. "Hop in, I'm driving," Maya commanded. They made it to Sanctuary in record time; Krieg vowed that _he_ would be the driver from now on. Maya saw the terrified look in his eye and knew that they'd be fighting over driving privileges in the future.

"Hey kiddo, Handsome Jack here," a smooth voice came over the intercom. "Looks like you not only managed to escaped but you also - oh man, this is rich -" he paused to laugh, "joined the Crimson Raiders. Well congratulations. Have fun that. Really. I'll be sending my men to retrieve you in… now."

Hyperion Loaders began digistructing before their eyes, while Engineers deployed from Buzzards in the sky above.

'SOMEBODY DELIVERED A FEAST!" Krieg yelled out, making his rounds with his buzzaxe. Maya was surprised at how efficiently he was plowing through the Hyperion tech with his weapon, and how unfazed he seemed when an EXP Loader blew up right next to him. She pulled out her caustic SMG and got to work. It was all rather boring, really; the Hyperion fleet was wiped out easily.

"Ten years of Dahl military experience at your… _service_."

Maya and Krieg looked over. The gates of Sanctuary opened, and out walked "Axton. Thought I'd come help you two out with Jack's little welcome to the Raiders present. Looks like I was late." He gave Maya an appreciative once-over. Maya smirked. Wasn't anything she didn't expect. Axton then turned his attention Krieg, giving him the same appreciative once-over. "Wow, do you work out, or…"

Axton lead the duo to the Command Center. Maya's eyes darted from one building to the next. Sanctuary might not have been the cleanest town she'd ever seen, but it was certainly better than where she currently called home. Smelled nicer, too.

"Wanna meet my girlfriend?" Axton asked, with a smile.

"Uh, sure, why not?" Maya agreed.

A shapely young woman was hunched over a table to the right inside of the Command Center. She was mumbling something incoherently, scrawling down plans on the back of a used envelope. Her short, raven-colored hair set off mesmerizing emerald eyes. Maya felt a small pang of jealousy, but dismissed it quickly. She found herself staring into this strange lady's eyes, but found no light behind them.

"Your hair looks delicious, like candy." she said to Maya, eyes suddenly filled with wonder.

Axton cut in between the two. "This is my lady friend, Patti."

"Do NOT call me that. I am Dr. Patricia Tannis, and you will address me as such." She nodded her head once as if to seal the deal. It was now law. Maya watched as she bobbed around the room from one thing to the next, like a crazy, dark little pixie. She decided that she liked Dr. Patricia Tannis. There was plenty of crazy in this world, herself included. Patricia seemed like the fun kind.

Krieg made himself at home and plopped down onto a chair. Dr. Patricia Tannis gasped. "Do NOT sit on Phillipe!" Krieg got up immediately. "Now you've done it.," the voice echoed in his head. "You probably just killed a gerbil or a cat or some other sort of house pet." He turned around to see what he had sat on, but found nothing but a chair. His hands scanned his backside rapidly. No carnage there. Slowly, he cocked his head to the side and looked at Tannis. Had she been able to see all of his face, she would have known he was giving her the stank eye. Instead, it just looked like his one "available" eye was open really wide. Tannis launched into a rant about how Phillipé - the CHAIR - was a delicate, but brave, beautiful soul, and how they had first met at a bar a few years back. Krieg had stopped listening. He let all of his weight drop down onto "Phillipe," enjoying the satisfying feeling that met his tailbone as the chair collapsed down to the floor. "WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SYMPHONY!" he said of the crunching sound. Tannis's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Everything holding her together seemed to vacate her body at that exact moment, leaving just a shell of her former self. Krieg knew he had messed up. He didn't realize it wasn't a joke, that Phillipe was… more than a chair? The idea still didn't make sense to him, but the look on her face, the way that her body hung there, just dangling in the air, moments from collapse; he knew that look, he understood that pain. Every time he had to say goodbye to her, every time he wanted to kiss her, but he couldn't, every time he wanted to hold her, and make love to her, but he didn't because he knew that if he did…

The world turned red right before his eyes. He had the urge to kill. He wanted to kill everyone in the room, in this town. He wanted to kill Tannis and Axton and he wanted to take Maya and run away and never have contact with anyone else ever again. They would do whatever they wanted, and they would die together, would that be so bad? "You could never hurt an innocent person," a voice from his past reminded him. It was her. Her voice was so soothing, so beautiful, but so different from how it sounded now. "I NEED YOUR HELP!" he growled at her, unintentionally. "She needs yours." Everything turned blacked.

"I am so sorry. I swear, I will buy you a new chair."

"You don't understand what you've done!"

"… IT'S A FREAKIN' CHAIR!"

Krieg heard Maya and Tannis bickering, so far away. He was glad he wasn't the only one who didn't understand what was going on with that chair. Phillipé. So pretentious. Shut up, it's a fucking chair.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Maya's smiling face was hanging upside down from the bunk above him. He jolted awake, his head clashing against the cold metal bed frame supporting Maya's mattress. "Careful," she giggled. He laid back down and stretched, pushing his palms into his skull, shifting his mask ever so slightly. Maya moved in to catch a glimpse of something, anything… Krieg watched her fall straight to the floor. He leaned over to see if she was okay, his face positioned just over hers. The emotions from last night rose to the surface. Lust, joy, lips, lips, so soft, kiss her. GO AWAY. Why did it have to be like this? She rolled away in a huff. She must have felt it, too.

"You hungry?"

_Always._

Maya headed outside. Krieg followed excitedly. It was feeding time. He inhaled sharply. The sweet smell of meat tickled his nose hairs. "MEEEEAT," he cried out. He suddenly found himself at a döner stand, his eyes were wide with anticipation. "Two döners and a red fizzy, please," Maya said, pushing exact change across the counter. Krieg was concerned. Two wasn't going to be enough to fill him up, and what was Maya going to eat? "And, how much for that thing?" Maya pointed to the huge rotating spit behind the cook. Krieg's mouth watered.

"You want that entire rack of beef? That's enough to make, like, a hunnerd kebabs, lady!"

"How much?" One good thing about drifting through time over thousands of years? You amass quite a bit of money. Maya and Krieg walked away happily. She didn't think she'd actually be able to convince him to sell it to her. Maya sat backwards on one of the picnic table benches so that Krieg could easily sit next to her. The bench tipped over instantly. Maya laughed. She didn't want him to feel badly, so whenever things like this happened, which were often, she always made sure to laugh. "My bad, I wasn't thinking," she apologized. "Let's sit on the grass instead."

They found a small patch of dead looking grass. It was mostly just dust and dirt. It was nice, though. Almost felt like _home_. So long ago, back when they first met, Maya — of course, she wasn't called Maya back then — and Krieg would have lunches on the side of a mountain near the small farm town where he lived. It was so beautiful back then. Maya leaned her head on Krieg's shoulder and started to cry softly. She tried to contain her sniffles and sighs, quickly resorting to holding her breath. Krieg was paralyzed. "Hold her, Meathead." Krieg put his arm around her, puzzled as to what he needed to do next. "Tell her everything is going to be okay," his inner voice said as calmly as possible. "I WILL KILL EVERYTHING FOR THE HONOR OF MY QUEEN!" Maya collapsed into him. Normally, his psychotic rants made her smile, but this one held so much meaning. Why had she done this to him?

She stood up straight and looked him dead in the eye. "Do you ever hate me for what I've done to you?" she spat out all at once. "I mean, not, this," she gestured with her hands at monster he'd become, a mere shadow of the once valiant hero he was before, "but… everything?" He didn't answer. It wasn't something he had ever thought about. Every moment he was fighting, he was hurting, he was suffering, he was doing so for her, to spend another minute with her, to make life better for her, to be worthy of her, to maybe one day have an actual chance with her. "I don't know why I expect you to answer me."

"Say something to her," his inner voice begged. "Tell her that you love her, that you'd do anything for just a moment of her time…." the voice trailed off, knowing better than to make serious demands of such a simple, twisted mind. The words faded away into the ether. Krieg watched as each speck of each letter dissolved into nothing but pure black. Crisis averted. He had to do something, anything, to show her that he cared. Small steps. Closer. Closer. Stopstopstopstop, watch her feet. Such delicate feet. He let his body curve down toward her, slowly, his head resting against hers. His mind began to fog. The fragrant smell of the forest filled his nostrils. It was spring time, back then. Man, how long has it been since we've seen anything we could refer to as "Spring?" The land was so young. Everything was brand new, including their love.

"HEY!" Maya cut through his daydream. "Listen, we should get going. Gotta find out where Roland is. Apparently, he's gone missing."


	3. Chapter 3

Maya and Krieg arrived in Frostburn Canyon, the cold air burning Maya's delicate skin. She had made sure to dress for the journey up here, while Krieg hadn't even bothered to put on a shirt. Maya touched her hand to his chest. He was impossibly warm. She held her hand in place just a moment too long, unaware of the hellfire psychos that were heading their way.

"HURTS SO GOOD!" Krieg, now on fire, whipped around and barreled through the other psychos, mowing them down with his buzzaxe as he went along. Maya ran after him, shooting wildly at any bandit she came across who Krieg hadn't decimated. She quickly realize she couldn't keep up with his spastic movements and insane speed. It was as though being on fire energized him. She stepped back and watched. Did he enjoy being on fire? She thought about that time she caught him setting himself on fire, and how his arm was completely smooth. No sign of a burn, nothing. Surely, by now, he'd be in serious trouble, being on fire for so long. Was it possible that the experiments Hyperion did to him somehow made him immune to fire damage? What about the other elements? Maya gathered a tiny, flickering sphere of lightning in her palm. She bounced it around from each one of her fingers while she waited for Krieg to put himself out in the snow. "Hey, Krieg, catch," she tossed the elemental orb towards him, holding her breath as she let it grow larger while it charged towards him.

"I HAVE THE POWER!"

"We are going to kill so many people together."

As they made their way through the camp to the Firehawk's lair, Axton's voice came over the echo. "Have you found any of the Firehawk's signs yet?"

"Uh, no?" Maya had completely forgotten their mission in the midst of everything.

"There are seven signs, you may have passed a few already, but they do stand out," Axton chuckled.

"A-ha, found one!"

Just ahead, a psycho pinned to a post pointed them in the direction of doom. The Firehawk may have been a ruthless, vicious killer, but at least he shared Krieg's keen decorating sense.

"Step off, Raiders, this is between the Bloodshots and the Firehawk! Once my boys bring his ass back to me, he's gonna pay for every Bloodshot he's killed. We're gonna string him up from his own freakin' intestines!" A gentleman named Flanksteak introduced himself through a brief echo message. Krieg immediately responded to his name, "MY INTESTINES QUAKE FOR THE TASTE OF YOUR MEAT."

Deeper and deeper through the Blisterpus Camp they battled, leaving mounds of Bloodshots in their wake. "BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOOOD!" Krieg screamed out.

"Keep goin', Bloodshots! That demonic… THING will rue the goddamn day it messed with us!" Flanksteak hollered over the intercom.

Lightning struck Maya at her temples. Electricity ran down her temporal lobe and filled her senses. "That demonic THING… get her away from me!" Painful memories inundated the space between her skull, numbness washed over her body to protect her from feeling too much. Not too long ago, things were so much different. She was "holy," "clean," "revered." Now, she was just a shadow of who she used to be, red eyes glowing in a dark cloud of her former grace. "Conquer yourself!" A voice shrilled. Conquer Yourself. Yeah. _Go away,_ just like you did all of those years ago when we needed you the most.

Krieg realized he was alone in his consumption of the bandits, not that he minded, but, where was his Maya? He spotted her yards away, back slumped against a dead tree. Her eyes… she wasn't with us right now. Was she speaking with the gods? He checked her ears. No, no change, yet. "Where are you, Princess?" His inner voice murmured. "Your Princess is in another castle — in another castle — in another castle," the words repeated in his head. "She'ssss not heeere anymoooreee." The voice hissed. So familiar, yet, so strange. "Jack?" Krieg's inner voice questioned. The voice laughed, that haughty, presumptuous laugh. "If I were as handsome as you… bwahahahaha. Oh but look at you now. What job could you possibly hold now?" The laughter whipped around Krieg, he could feel it prickling his skin. How did he not see it before? Jack. Handsome … Jack.

The blood of all of his hatred dripped down and blurred his vision. "RED! I SEE THE RED! I YEEEARN FOR IT!" Relaxation rushed over him. Sweet release. Body pieces. Body peaces. The voices of the angels sang out to him again. He was starting to notice a pattern. "You must save her _from_ _herself_. She can't do this without you." Time slowed down. "THE FLOW OF TIME IS ALWAYS CRUEL WHEN I HAVE A BONESAW!"

Maya looked up suddenly, a small smile held her lips up. At least they couldn't take away her good memories, too. "I thought I'd let you do all the work for once," she jabbed him in the ribs softly. "Let's get going, I think the Firehawk is just up ahead."

"You think the Firehawk's got Roland, huh?" Handsome Jack Echoed in. "Y'know, I heard the Firehawk liquifies bandits and drinks 'em like flesh smoothies. But nah, I'm sure your pal Roland is just fine. Of course, if Roland hadn't been such a dumbass in the first place — whoops! Almost spilled the secret!"

Maya and Krieg exchanged a sideways glance and continued on forward. "Listen, even if you DO rescue Roland from this Firehawk guy," Jack continued, "the Crimson Raiders ain't exactly long for this world. You know what? I think you deserve a little hint: my secret involves your pathetic resistance dying, me laughing, a lot, and then I'm going to find you and lock you up in a cell for all of eternity. Sound good? Sounds great." Static sound waves pierced the air as the transmission ended.

"BLAKE!" Jack spun around in his chair.

"Sir?" A tired, but refined voice responded.

"Put out a warrant. One hundred billion fucking dollars for 'Krieg,' property of Hyperion. Make a separate note for probable Siren bitch that he's teamed up with. Blonde. Super hot. Weird tattoos on her left hand and arm."

"Dead or alive, sir?"

"For the psycho? Dead's fine. But for the Siren? Alive and kicking."

Handsome Jack's eyes glowed beneath his mask. He smoothed back his hair, adjusted his blazer, fastened the last snap on his vest — that one was always coming undone — and arranged his base layer just so… there, perfect. He made his way to Opportunity's Fast Travel station. "Where to, sexy?" the voice asked. Jack closed his eyes. "The Bunker." Time to get serious.

Back at Frostburn Canyon, jets of flames greeted Maya and Krieg at the entrance of the Firehawk's Lair.

"How quaint," Maya thought. She watched closely for the timing of the traps. Krieg ran right through the flames, giving no regard to the mechanics of the scheme. He flipped a switch at the end, allowing Maya to follow at her own pace. The sounds of their footsteps ricocheted off of the cavern's walls as they approached the platform ahead. Two Bruisers walked out, clearly looking for a good time.

"I SEE MEAT MUSCLES!" Krieg yelled.

"Stay focused." Maya warned.

A blinding white light blanketed the area. Maya's heart raced as she struggled to put together the pieces of everything that was happening in front of her. Her conscience slowed, her pupils dilated. She could see everything and nothing all at the same time. Her journeys were laid out before her eyes, so many memories brought forth at all at once. She saw the turmoil in her soul, the pain of her power being divided. She opened her eyes, and saw a single ball of fire crashing down to the ground in front of her. My fire. I've missed you. A sultry figured formed in the flames, wings spread wide; a siren.

"Sup," the fiery maiden said right before falling to the ground. "How ya doin'? The bandits call me the Firehawk, but the name's Lilith. I'm with the Raiders, we spoke earlier as you might remember. I keep the bandits in line so Roland can focus on taking down Jack. Anyway, long story, lots of internal bleeding. Could you help me up?"

Krieg took the question literally and picked her up with both hands, setting her gently back down onto the arena, but she wasn't strong enough to stand on her own. Maya had been practicing restorative magic in her downtime, but hadn't come across a case this advanced before. "Don't make me have to do this again," she joked.

"Oof, I need a pick-me-up. Get me some Eridium, will ya? I should have some in one of my strong boxes."

Maya dutifully searched through the strong boxes until she found Eridium. Didn't take long. She handed it over to Lilith, wondering what she intended to do with the chunk of unrefined energy. Maya watched, almost in horror, as Lilith absorbed the Eridium. She told herself to control the look on her face, and not to judge, we all have our vices, after all, and hers was a 260 pound slab of meat.

"Ahh, thanks," Lilith sighed. "Bet you're looking for Roland, huh? He's not here — the Bloodshots grabbed him. Made 'em cocky, too. Never came after me this hard."

"They're in here. GET 'EM!" a Bloodshot cried out.

"Heh. Now the real fun begins. I'll see if I can't phaseblast a few of them for ya." Lilith smiled. The psychos poured in, and with that, Lilith was gone. Maya watched as she zipped into an alternative dimension, a beautiful streak of purple amdist the sterile grey environment. "Watch out! Psychos!" Lilith warned. "I'LL SHOW YOU A PSYCHO!" Krieg pulled out his buzzaxe and started to dance. Hackin' and whackin' and slashin'. He's hackin' and whackin', choppin' that meat!

Maya couldn't let Lilith and Krieg be the only ones having fun. She cracked her neck and got to work, phaselocking a Badass Psycho high in the air. She didn't know why she felt like showing off. Sure, Lilith was a Siren, but why did she feel the need to prove herself? Was it because Lilith was older? Did she want her acceptance? Maybe. A "thank you" would be nice, too, but that could come later. Maya watched the psycho burn as she shot at him with her SMG, bullets flying in all directions, some hitting other enemies, some hitting Krieg. "SHOOT ME 'TIL YA LOVE ME!" he called out, jovially. Friendly fire never bothered him, rather, it fueled the rage inside of him.

"Well done!" Lilith cheered Maya on.

"So it goes…" Maya bid the badass farewell.

"Get some ammo, this ain't over yet." Lilith commanded. "They found another way in!"

"I guess I'm not getting any ammo after all," Maya remarked.

Crazed Marauders and Badass Psychos hurried to their deaths one by one.

"Well, that was fun. Feeling tapped out, though — could ya get me another hunk of Eridium?"

Maya tracked down another piece of Eridium. "Yeah, that's the stuff. Give it here?" Lilith asked the second Maya got her hands on it. Maya began to worry about Lilith's apparent dependence on the stuff, but felt it was best not to meddle in the affairs and addictions of someone she had just met. "Ahh, thanks," Lilith said after Maya gave her the Eridium. "After the first vault opened, my Siren powers have been getting a little… awesome, thanks to this Eridium stuff. No idea why. Now, let's talk about rescuing my boyfriend."

"Roland's your… boyfriend?" Maya was a bit surprised. Lilith seemed so gutsy and free-spirited. Roland was phlegmatic and just plain _boring_. Opposites attract, or so they say.

"Well… ex-boyfriend," Lilith muttered. Maya felt relieved somehow. The world had balanced, the universe had righted itself. All was as it should be. "Before the Bloodshots grabbed him, Roland was getting intel on this… vault, and what Jack plans to do with it. You have to find him. I gotta head back to Sanctuary, keep the city in one piece while Roland's away. But first, I'm going to teleport you into the Bloodshot Stronghold — that's where they're keeping Roland. You'll catch 'em by surprise and have a real advantage. It'll be great. Hold still."

Violet light radiated from fiery siren. Weightlessness surrounded Maya and Krieg. Maya quickly gave into the sensations, letting herself flow gently through the atmosphere. Krieg felt particles of his body detaching and breaking away. Blip. Bleep. Bloop. It felt different than the teleporters at Hyperion, but that was old tech. This kinda tickled. THUD. Complete darkness engulfed them. "Oh crap!" Lilith's voice. So far away. "Sorry, I'm… still getting used to this. Hold on, I'm going to try again, just… let me get some Eridium."

Can you hear the music that I feel, Maya? Krieg's eyes — both of them — opened suddenly. He was no longer on Pandora. Pillars of creamy white marble stretched endlessly into the sky. He inhaled deeply. The air was so pure. He missed clean, unpolluted air. Krieg looked ahead to see seven platforms in a circle. He dashed ahead quickly, his boots making a pleasant clicking noise as he ran. "The Seven who are there, bring them here!" a voice called out from above. He looked up and all around, but didn't see anyone. He combed the hair out of his brow with his fingertips and sat down on the ledge overlooking a waterfall. "Don't feel discouraged, even during the toughest times," the voice continued.

Krieg got up turned around to leave. He didn't have time for a lengthy dialog.

"Krieg? KRIEG, please wake up!" Maya pleaded. Always willing to do as his Maya commanded, Krieg slowly opened his eye. He liked when Maya was the first thing he saw when he woke up. She relaxed. "Good. Let's get going, we need to find Roland."

There were so many things Krieg wanted to tell her, but couldn't. There were the usual things: I love you, you're beautiful, you smell nice, I'm hungry, is it bath time yet, but all of those things, she already knew. She didn't know the things he couldn't share, the things that even if he was totally compos mentis, he wouldn't be allowed to tell her. He wanted to warn her so badly.

"Great. You made it to the Stronghold. Roland should be around there somewhere," Lilith came in through the Echo. "I'm sure you can handle yourselves, but if anything happens to Roland… make sure NOTHING happens to Roland."

"Don't worry, we'll get your boyfriend back." Maya replied.

Shortly after their transmission ended, a voice spoke softly in their ears. "Do not be alarmed. I need you to stay calm, and do not let on that anyone is talking to you." Maya looked around. "Krieg. Are you hearing this?" "You don't have any reason to trust me," the voice continued, "but I need you to believe that I'm here to guide you - I'm here to help you find the Vault. You must do everything I say. I'll contact you again soon."

"So, you could hear that, right? That wasn't just me?" Maya asked Krieg again. Krieg nodded his head. Maya tucked her hair behind her ear. So round and smooth. Sigh. Still, this was a good sign. She had been contacted by an ethereal being - but how? It didn't matter. She was now confident she'd be able to find this vault everyone was talking about. Maya really hadn't given the vault much thought until Lilith mentioned that the opening of the last one had strengthened her powers. "Onward," she commanded. She pulled out her sniper rifle and slowly rounded the corner, her sights set on a Crazed Marauder. She inhaled. His heart beat steadily in his chest. Not a care in the world. She exhaled. By that time, he was already dead.

"You're gonna die today!" a bandit yelled out in response to his fallen comrade.

"YOU DON'T DIE TODAY, YOU DIE EVERY DAY!" Krieg shot back verbally. He grabbed one of the shock barrels and broke it open with the spikes of his mask straps. Human can opener. Heh. "WE'RE GONNA BRING YOU THE POWER!" He charged up his buzzaxe and laid waste to the Bruiser to his left. Maya phaselocked a Bruiser to the right and set him on fire. Fire, oh, to be on fire. Krieg wanted to be set on fire by Maya, too. Hold me close, Siren, and we can stop time together.

Krieg watched Maya in action. She was swift and agile. The way she moved was intoxicating to observe. He spotted a Psycho approach her stealthily from behind with a grenade in his hand. No. Krieg ran towards him with all of his might. It would not end this way. He yanked the grenade away, ripped the Psycho's mask off, and forced it into his throat, then clamped his jaw shut and shoved the psycho away from himself and Maya. "IT'S MANICALLY DELICIOUS!"

"That calmed him down some." Maya remarked. She ran ahead to the central room of the Bloodshot's Stronghold. A whistling whirlpool served as the center piece of the cylindrical chamber. Maniacs and Bruisers seeped into the area in large groups. Maya lobbed a grenade in the general direction of the largest gathering of bandits, shooting it in midair. It detonated immediately; death enveloped the weaker foes. She threw another grenade equipped with Singularity, aiming it at the very edge of the whirlpool. Maniacs and Bruisers alike were drawn into the implosion. Those who kept their balance met death through Maya's SMG. Those who didn't swirled around in the vortex, water quickly gushing into their lungs and claiming their lives.. Krieg attached explosive to his Buzzaxe and hurled it at the largest Bruiser; a shower of blood rained down onto nearby bandits. Once the area was clear, the duo moved forward into the Bloodshots' prison area.

"Hello Friend," the voice from earlier spoke calmly in their ears.  
"Who ARE you?" Maya demanded.  
"Who I am is not important. Ahead, your friend Roland is imprisoned. Be careful not to attract any unwanted attention. The jail here is overrun with Hyperion Loaders. Stay safe."

"Do you remember what 'stealth' is, Krieg?" Maya joked. "I think we can handle a few Loaders, but let's be cautious anyway." Maya slowly slinked around the corner just before the holding cells. Ahead was Roland, lying down on his cot. Staring at the ceiling, he daydreamed about his past as a member of the Crimson Lance. Life was a lot more simple back then. He remembered the day he met Lilith. He had just arrived on Pandora, hitching a ride on a dusty bus in search of adventure and revenge. Across from him was a young redheaded girl. He had never seen hair so vibrant before. Roland told himself not to stare, and turned his attention towards the world outside of the bus. Sand and dust for miles and miles. He looked down at his hands, then noticed a faint purple light at his side. The young Siren had materialized next to him while he was trying to avoid her. She cupped his face with both hands and pulled him in for a kiss. Roland was so stunned that he remained frozen through the duration of the kiss; his mind unthawed towards the end and urge him to kiss back. Lilith's spontaneity was one of the many things that had attracted him to her as he got to know her more. He felt she was a good contrast to the stiff, uncaring women he knew back home, a good contrast to himself, as well. Even though they weren't a couple anymore, he longed for the day when they could be together again.

Maya quietly made her way towards Roland while scanning the area for a way to get him out of his cell. Krieg decided to stay back a bit. He had forgotten what stealth was. He grabbed a beer from a nearby fridge and sat down on the cold concrete. WATER?! he thought as the beer fizzled down his throat, barely activating his taste buds. This tastes like water, his inner voice agreed. Up ahead, Maya had located Roland. He sat up straight and greeted her, but their meeting was cut short by the sound of Krieg throwing his beer bottle at the wall in anger. "You idiot," she said under her breath, hoping that the crashing glass hadn't caught the attention of any Hyperion bots.

Maya heard a soft whir, but couldn't locate the source. Suddenly, two Loaders smashed through the brick walls of Roland's holding cell. "This'll just talk a second," Roland said, unfazed. He tackled the leading Loader head first to the ground, ripping out its core. He deftly pitched it towards the second Loader as another plowed toward him, slamming him into the cell's bars. Using the carbine arm of one of the fallen Loaders beside him, Roland made quick work of the BUL Loader. "Now where was I?"

Her face remained placid, but Maya was impressed. Roland walked towards the opening in his cell so graciously left for him by the Loaders, unaware that a constructor was waiting for him just outside. The W4R-D3N directed a set of shock beams toward Roland, paralyzing him as it dragged him away. Maya was unimpressed. "And that's how Handsome Jack pays ransoms!" Jack laughed over an Echo.

"Oh no, this isn't good. Follow him. I believe the constructor is headed towards the Ramparts," the voice suggested.

"KRIEG," Maya shouted, "take care of these Loaders!" She ran after Roland, leaving Krieg to dismantle the bots she had left behind.


End file.
